State Power and Private

Governance

Negotiating the nature of ‘Fair Trade’ in UK

government procurement and beyond

Presented by Alastair M Smith at:

Beyond Individual Consumer Choice: Institutionalising

Fair Trade and Public Procurement

Sustainable Development

1988 Bruntland Report – Sustainable

Development (SD) established as a concept

Three equal pillars: economic, social and

environmental

Anthropocentric concept – social justice

Development not just about ex-post intervention

Development of others must be considered in

current actions

Agenda 21

1992 Rio Conference & Agenda 21

Northern consumption patterns should be ‘taking

into account the development need of developing

countries’

Everyone to take a role especially local government

‘to promote patterns of consumption and

production that reduce environmental stress and

will meet the basic needs of humanity’

UK Government Response

UK Government develops first national strategy

in 1994

Updated in 1999 and 2005 ‘Securing the Future’.

‘There is a clear obligation on more prosperous

nations both to put their own house in order and

support other countries in the transition towards a

more equitable and sustainable world’

Role of State Procurement

2006 D.E.F.R.A Procuring the Future

Government must ‘lead by example’

Many academics agree (Morgan 2008)

Priority areas: 3rd food

Growing body of empirical examples

Concentrate on environmental issues, local human health

economy (Sonnino 2009)

What about ‘international’ sustainable development?

Further Commitment to SD

… through Fair Trade!…. and ethical trade…

OGC Discourse on Fair Trade… and ethical trade

What a frustrating experience…

The Devolved Governments

Wales pioneered Fair Trade Nation scheme

Developed out of partnership between civil society

in Wales and WAG

Long consideration of criterion

Practical need to make qualitative requirements

Wanted to work with what was out there

Scotland joins in and Wales declares 2008

A more hopeful future for SD?

The Fair Trade Nation:

The Criterion

Welsh Assembly

Government

Scottish Government Scottish Fair Trade

Forum

100% of counties/ local

authorities have

active Fair Trade

groups working

towards Fair Trade

status

100 per cent of counties/local

authorities have active Fair

Trade groups working

towards Fair Trade status

100% of Local Authorities have

Fair Trade groups working

toward Fairtrade Zone

status

55% counties/ local

authorities with Fair

Trade status with

10% increase year

on year until 100%

is reached

55 per cent of local authority

areas gain Fair Trade status

with 10% annual increase in

following years

55% of our Local Authorities

having achieved Fairtrade

Zone status. In following

years, this must

increase 10% per year until

all 32 are Fairtrade Zones

100% of cities have Fair

Trade status

100 per cent of cities obtain Fair

Trade status

100% of cities have achieved

Fairtrade City status

Minimum 55% of towns

have active Fair

Trade groups

working towards Fair

Trade status

A minimum of 55 per cent of

towns (Based on GROS

figures of towns with

population of 5,000 or more

at 2001) have active Fair

Trade groups working

toward Fair Trade status

At least 55% of towns have Fair

Trade groups working

toward Fairtrade Town

status

60% of Higher

Education

institutions to have

active Fair Trade

groups working

60 per cent of HE institutions to

have active Fair Trade

groups working towards Fair

Trade status

60% of universities have active

Fair Trade groups working

toward Fairtrade status

Fairtrade Communities

The local council must pass a resolution supporting

Fairtrade, and serve Fairtrade coffee and tea at its

meetings and in offices and canteens.

A range of Fairtrade products must be readily available in the area's shops and served in local cafés and catering establishments.

Fairtrade products must be used by a number of local work places educational establishments, faith communities and other community organisations. A flagship employer is required for populations over 100,000.

Attract media coverage and organise events to gain popular support for the campaign.

A local Fairtrade steering group must meet regularly to ensure continued commitment to Fairtrade Town status. The composition of your steering group should be representative of your community overall

Sample Council Motion

Why

[Name of council], as an important consumer and opinion leader, should research, develop, and support a strategy to facilitate the promotion and purchase of foods with the FAIRTRADE Mark as part of its commitment to [document/advise paper] and in pursuit of sustainable development and to give marginalised producers a fair deal.

The initiative involves a commitment to:

•Widely offer FAIRTRADE Marked food and drink options internally and

make them available for internal meetings

•Promote the FAIRTRADE Mark using Fairtrade Foundation materials in

refreshment areas and promoting the Fairtrade Towns initiative in internal

and communications and external newsletters

•Use influence to urge local retailers to provide Fairtrade options for

residents

•Use influence to urge local business to offer Fairtrade options to their

staff and promote the FAIRTRADE Mark internally

•Engage in a media campaign to publicise the Fairtrade Towns initiative

•Allocate responsibility for progression of the Fairtrade Town initiative to

a member or group of staff

•Organise events and publicity during national Fairtrade Fortnight - the

annual national campaign to promote sales of products with the

FAIRTRADE Mark

Fairtrade Education

Fairtrade foods are made available for sale in all campus

shops. Fairtrade foods are used in all cafés/restaurants/

bars on campus. Where this is not possible, there is a

commitment to begin to use Fairtrade foods in these

establishments as soon as it becomes possible to do so.

Fairtrade foods (for example, coffee and tea) are served at all meetings hosted by the university or college and the Student Union (or equivalent), and are served in all university or college and Student Union management offices.

There is a commitment to campaign for increased Fairtrade consumption on campus

Other Players…

Fairtrade Dominance?

Rain Forest Alliance et al. squeezed out of LA procurement:

‘We always insist that if we are taking on one of these [coffee] machine, that they can provide Fairtrade stuff…I was in the canteen the other day, and it says that it’s not Fairtrade and it’s Rainforest Alliance that we’re buying. And I said no, it’s got to be Fairtrade. The council has an ambition to become a Fairtrade council’

‘because we are a Fairtrade City under the Fairtrade Foundation scheme, we should only be using tea or coffee with the FLO Mark’

If only I could tell you!

Not without some creativity…

Some local authorities are being more ‘reflexive’:

Specifically, choosing ‘Fair Trade’ in textual

projections

Ensuring Fairtrade MARK hot drinks but thinking

more widely for other products

In one specific example accepting fairly traded goods

on reputation of supplier

The Issues

Is the Fairtrade MARK qualitatively better value for money than other governance in promoting SD to justify specification? Some comparisons say yay! (Summary in Smith 2008)

Old problem of statistically representative evidence (Griffiths forthcoming)

What about evidence on other marks WFTO accreditation?

But does/should that matter?

Fairtrade certification as a barrier to entry in state-led supply chains? Probably not for immediate suppliers in UK

But what about producers? (Adam Smith Report 2008)

And the ‘first’ are last…

Acknowledged barriers to entry to FLO certification for some producers at the moment:

Availability of standards (product categories, geographically)

Cost of compliance (fees and technicalities) And these are obviously necessary!

Some experimenting with WFTO accreditation

But producers concerned how this viewed by consumers?

How should consumers view WFTO?

‘sentiments from [X] that probably the COFTA members are not real Fair Trade organisations’

A Methodology for Decision?

At the moment:

‘It’s going to be about who shouts the loudest’ (African Interviewee)

What would Aristotle say?

Is this a defensible rationale through which to incorporate Fair Trade within Public

Procurement systems?

Thank the European

Procurement Directive I

don’t need to decide!

Questions Please!